POWER & AUTHORITY
02nd Nov 2022
In Luke 9 we read that Jesus called His disciples to Him and gave them power and authority over demons and sickness, and then He sent them out to heal the sick using that power and authority He had bestowed upon them.
Put yourself in their position; they had seen some pretty spectacular miracles, life changing events, power and authority very visible in Jesus - but now they are being asked to do the same. Power only becomes visible when it is applied to a given situation; and Authority has to be exercised in order for things to change. You can have been given both power and authority, but unless you use them they are nebulous.
When did you last see power and authority in action, totally changing a situation? Jesus promised we would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon us, and as we let the Holy Spirit fill and flow through us we would know the power of God in life changing reality, healing and setting people free. God in action. (Acts 1:8)
So, if you want to see God at work through you, you need to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit, moment by moment overflowing and ready for action.
In 1 John 5:14, John talks about having “confidence in approaching God, believing that we can ask him for anything according to his will, and if we are confident he is listening to us, we know we will receive what we have asked for.”
So I ponder what does “according to his will” mean in practical terms. It seems that we need to hear what God wants to reveal about a particular set of circumstances or individual prayer need - and then using the information given by the Holy Spirit, we approach the throne of God with our petition. We come boldly because of the blood of Jesus and after laying our request, we receive what we have asked for and instructions on how to act. If you like, a fresh equipping to see the power of God in action.
1 John 3:21 says, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive form him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.”
Habakkuk 3:2 “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”
Let’s go back to basics and be filled again with the Holy Spirit - God’s wonderful gift.
by Joyce Sibthorpe
